3i8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 29 
but 25 degrees below zero has made it company for tbe 
rest of the pesches. The same is true of Bokhara 
No. 3, the N. China peach that was to have furnished 
marmalade for the Esquimaux. 
Among all the pears here—the Russians excepted— 
I see none with wood so little damaged as the Lincoln— 
not the Lincoln Ccreless, but a variety originating 
near Lincoln, Ill. This is one of the best kinds for 
this part of the country and farther north, as it is 
more free from blight than most kinds, is an early and 
good bearer of fruit—the size of Lawrence and quality 
and season of Bartlett. b. buckman. 
Sangamon County, III. 
BIN DAVIS AT BAT. 
A WESTERN MAN DEFENDS HIM. 
In The R. N.-Y. of February 25, is a little the most 
extravagant specimen of “bitter rot” over Ben Davis 
and Kieffer pear, that I have seen in a long time. It 
puts the Ben Davis below turnips, calls it a “ beast 
among apples ”, “the most worthless fruit that ever 
maiqueraded in a beautiful hide”; and inquires 
whether the Kieffer pear “is fit to eat”. It is a 
waste of time to answer such people “ according to 
their folly”, but it might not be out of place to ob¬ 
serve that, in the latitude of that writer—Monroe, 
Wis.—the Ben Davis is a failure, just as the Baldwin 
is here. But we don’t deny the merits of the Baldwin 
in Michigan or Ycrk State because we can't raise 
it profitably. Wisconsin has nothing that can run 
the Kansas Ben Davis out of the market. 
It is a sort of slang adage that “you can’t keep a 
good man down ”, and in spite of all the sneers of 
city-flat orchardists and pen-point paragraphers, the 
culture of the Ben Davis apple and Kieffer pear, in 
the locations suited to them, is many times over that 
of any other varieties. Moreover, the demand for 
these fruits, both at home and abroad, is keeping 
pace with the supply. They are not bought out of 
malice; business isn’t done that way; people buy 
them because they like them. As the Ben Davis is 
grown here, picked early, as scon as well colored, and 
ripened in the cellar, it is one of the very best cock- 
ing apples, and a capital good eating apple—a posi¬ 
tion that millions of both Europeans and Americans 
affirm, in the most convincing manner (backing their 
judgment by their money), every year. 
Several years ago, the editor devoted his weekly 
poetical “ brevity ” to the Kieffer pear, recounting the 
harsh things he had said about it, begging Kieffer’s 
pardon since his wife had “opened her Kieffer ensi¬ 
lage”, thus revealing its hitherto unsuspected good 
qualities. There are many better pears, when you have 
them, to eat out of hand. But Kieffer you can most 
always have, and when it is ripened in the dark, for 
a month or six weeks, would be relished by anybody 
until, possibly, he learned tbe name ! But as “ensi- 
lage ”, as the editor says, it is great, edwin taylob. 
Kansas. 
Stood 40 Cegrees Below Zero. 
You ask, “How has the Ben Davis stood the freeze?” 
At my farm, the thermometer registered 40 degrees 
below zero. This thermometer is about three degrees 
higher than three thermometers of mercury which 
will not work more than 40 degrees below zero, so I 
think a correct thermometer should have shown 43 
degrees below zero. I have the Ben Davis and more 
than 40 other varieties of apples, that do not show 
the least damage by the freezing. One tree of the 
Winter Banana, set last Fall, is killed down. 
I have grafts of the Apple of Com merce, Deli¬ 
cious, Senator, Black Ben Davis and Cham¬ 
pion, set in the tops of trees last Spring, and 
well started, but they seem to be nearly all 
injured. But all kinds of apples seem to be 
perfectly hardy here if they have stood for two 
yeais, and are in perfect health. The coldest 
I have known before in about 10 years was 34 
degrees below zero. 
Of pears, I have two varieties that are per¬ 
fectly hardy, the Swiss and the Bessemianka ; 
others are somewhat blackened under the 
bark. Sapieganka, Flemish Beauty, Clapp’s 
Favorite, Anjou, Idaho, Seckel, Howell, Bart¬ 
lett, Lawrence, Rutter, Onondaga and Kieffer 
are all damaged, but I think most of them will re¬ 
cover. May be the Kieffer will die. 
Of grapes, the Champion, Marion, Janesville, Moore’s 
Early, Lady and Martha still appear perfectly sound, 
but Moore’s Diamond, Brighton, Wyoming Red, 
Eumelan, Hartford, Dracut Amber, Salem, Cottage, 
Lindley, Delaware, E. Victor, N. Muscadine and some 
of the Champion appear to be damaged. These are 
all on the trellis, and most of them were pruned early 
in Winter, which may have made them more tender. 
Those unpruned seem to be more hardy. Of cherries, 
I have Dyehouse, Reine Hortense, Early Richmond,' 
Ostheim, Windsor and another, which appear to be 
all perfectly hardy. 
Of 16 varieties of plums, about five or six are killed. 
Juicy, Gold and Lincoln plums seem very tender, but 
they are young trees or grafts. Russian apricot trees 
are quite hardy, but the fruit buds are very tender. 
Charlevoix County, Mich. j h. newman. 
BALD OR BEARDED WHEAT. 
IS THEBE ANY CHOICE BETWEEN THEM ? 
Which is Better and Why ? 
Do you know of any fair reason why the bearded head is su¬ 
perior, assuming that, in other respects, the grain is equally 
good ? Is there any good reason, in your opinion, why the beard¬ 
ed heads are to be preferred ? In your locality, which are the 
more popular ? As a rule, are the bearded heads hardier, stronger 
or generally better adapted to local cultivation ? 
Bald, lor New York. —There is no reason why 
bearded varieties of wheat should be superior to the 
WINTER BUDDING OF THE PEACH. Fig 127. 
bald varieties. The weevil, Cecedomyia tritici, i6 
said to attack the bald varieties more easily than the 
bearded. Fifty years ago, when this pest ravaged 
central New York, not only were bearded varieties 
used, but in all cases, it was advisable to sow varieties 
which ripened early, and it was no uncommon thing 
in those days to sow wheat in August, and harvest it 
the last days of June. The Mediterranean wheat was 
THE FLY THAT KILLS THE WORM. Fig. 128. 
introduced during this period because it was an early 
wheat, and because it was abundantly supplied with 
long, sharp beards. It may be said incidentally that 
this Mediterranean wheat, when first introduced, was 
but little better than rye. It has been greatly modi¬ 
fied in straw and kernel since its first introduction. 
Cornell Experiment Station. i. p. bobebts. 
What Montana Needs. —In our extremely dry 
climate, we are looking, in wheats, for the following : 
First, the yields ; next, the protein content; next, the 
freedom from the tendency to shelling. It may seem 
strange to you that more consideration would be paid 
to the yield, which means, of course, a heavier starch 
content, than to the actual quality of the berry as 
shown by the protein content; but the time is not far 
distant when our Winter club varieties, rich in starch, 
will be eagerly sought by millers as a blend for the 
harder Spring wheats, rich in protein. We prefer 
the bald varieties rather than the bearded, on 
account of freedom from shelling when overripe, 
although this does not seem an infallible rule, either, 
as some of our bald varieties show very strong incli¬ 
nation to shell. It is well to remember that the har¬ 
vest period with us very closely approaches aridity, 
but the very fact that we get but little rain during 
this period, oftentimes means heavy winds with con¬ 
sequent whipping out of grains. I have thought that 
a beard one to one-half inch in length attached as it 
is to the terminal of th6 sheath or glume, serves in 
the wind in the light of a lever to lift off the protect¬ 
ing husk, leaving the ripe grain free to find its way 
to the ground. j. m. emeby. 
Montana Experiment Station. 
Beards Bother Birds.— As a rule, I have found 
the bearded sorts the more vigorous in growth, also, 
other circumstances being equal, I think more prolific. 
The bearded varieties are not, however, as popular 
with farmers as the beardless sorts, for the reason 
that the beards are likely to be somewhat annoying 
to those engaged in the thrashing of the grain. In 
our work in connection with the production of cross¬ 
bred wheats, of which a great many have been origin¬ 
ated at the Canadian Experiment Farms, we have 
found in crossing bearded with beardless varieties, 
that the characteristics of the bearded wheat are more 
common in the resultant cross; also, that where a 
beardless variety is produced, frequent bearded sports 
are subsequently found in the grain grown from such 
crosses, and that where a beardless sport does occur, 
and a careful selection is made of all such, the crop 
from the beardless type does not usually average as 
much as that from the b jarded form. An advantage 
claimed for bearded wheats in Europe is that they are 
much less liable to attack by birds, and on the other 
hand, where birds are very abundant, they sometimes 
injure crops of beardless varieties very m uch. 
Ottawa, Can. wm saundebs. 
SHORT STORIES. 
Winter Budding of Peach Trees. — Bulletin 
42, of the Georgia Experiment Station (Experiment), 
gives a variety of information on peach growing, 
and while the cultural notes are more particularly ap¬ 
plicable to southern orchards, the Bulletin contains a 
good deal of wisdom which may be studied with 
profit, by any orchardist. The pages devoted to bud¬ 
ding are particularly interesting. The Bulletin ob¬ 
serves that budding may be done at two seasons—in 
the early Summer or in the early Fall or late Summer. 
When done early in the season, it is always with the 
intention of forcing immediate growth, thus produc¬ 
ing what are known as June-budded trees. When 
done in August or September, the bud remains dor¬ 
mant until the following Winter, and does not com¬ 
mence growth until the next season. June buds have 
been growing in favor of late years, small trees being 
preferable to large ones for planting. 
While budding must be done with wood of the cur¬ 
rent season’s growth, such wood is often quite imma¬ 
ture in the early Summer, consequently many June 
buds fail to live in the hands of inexperienced opera¬ 
tors. The operation is the same in both cases, except 
that, with J une-budded trees, after the buds have 
taken, the top-growth of the stalk is cut off in order 
to stimulate growth in the bud. 
An interesting method of Winter-budding which 
has proved valuable in the South, has been practiced 
by Prof. R. H. Price, of the Texas Experiment Station. 
This enables the operator to do his work at a season 
when he is not so pressed for time as during the 
Summer. Prof. Price describes his operation as fol¬ 
lows : “ The method as used at the Station consists in 
cutting a slip of bark with some wood attached down 
the tree about one inch, leaving it attached at the 
lower end. About half this slip is then cut off, leav¬ 
ing the other half still attached to the tree. Cut off 
the bud, leaving some wood also attached to it 
to prevent injury, and then carefully place it 
between the slip and tree, so that it will fit 
nicely, and the cambium of the bud and tree 
come in contact. Tie tightly with some good 
material, such as raffia. In five or six days, the 
buds will be found to have nipped firmly. 
Treat them as though budded in the usual way.’’ 
Prof. Price has employed this process in the 
month of January, without the loss of a single 
bud. It is the modification of a method prac¬ 
ticed years ago in Europe. It is considered 
worthy of test in the southern States. Fig. 
127, from Bulletin 30, of the Texas Experi¬ 
ment Station, shows this method of budding. 
Comment is also made on the efficiency of a coat 
of whitewash in retarding the development of fruit 
buds, thus saving the bloom from injury by late 
frosts, and it is felt that this method of treatment can 
be confidently recommended. Peach maladies and 
their remedies, notes on varieties, and experimental 
spraying tests add to the value of this Bulletin. 
Tobacco Insects.— Bulletin 48, of the Florida 
Experiment Station (Lake City), discusses the insect 
enemies of tobacco. It may be interesting to know 
that there are a number of insects with a taste for 
tobacco. StraDge as it may seem, there are bugs 
which follow humans in the tobacco habit. This Bul¬ 
letin describes and pictures them, and tells how they 
may be killed. Among other interesting statements, 
COCOONS OF THE WORM KILLER. Fig. 129. 
